First Longwood rehearsal
Last night was my first rehearsal with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra. I had never heard them play before, so I had no idea what to expect. Here are some of my impressions from the first rehearsal.
The winds and brass (those that were there — some were absent, probably for Rosh Hashana) were quite good, better than I’m used to playing with. They seemed to have no problems with intonation or tone, and the brass sound was very full and vibrant. There was no sign of a percussion section. I’m not sure whether that was due to the pieces we’re playing for this concert, to the holiday, or whether they have to hire ringers for the concerts. The string section wasn’t bad, probably similar in ability to the MIT symphony, though maybe a little more consistent through the ranks (i.e. the players in the back knew what they were doing). The viola section seemed particularly strong. The second violins almost seemed more solid than the firsts. It was only the second rehearsal of the season, though (first for new members), so it’s hard to tell.
The music for the first concert doesn’t include anything terribly technically difficult:
- Elgar Serenade for Strings
- Liszt Les Preludes
- Bizet Symphony in C
There were a couple harder spots to sight-read, but nothing that would require tons of practice to be able to play (like some of the Stravinsky, Mahler, and Bartok I’ve had the pleasure of playing in the MIT symphony). Still, it’s not boring music by any means, and the Liszt and Bizet are both new to me. And later on in the year we get to play some nice juicy pieces like Tchaikovsky’s 6th and a Prokofiev piece.
The conductor of the Longwood symphony, Jonathan McPhee, is apparently new to the orchestra, too. He conducts the Boston Ballet! He seems like a very good conductor — his directions are clear and easy to understand, and it’s not hard to follow his conducting at all (provided you are seated in a position where you can actually see him and your music at the same time, which I wasn’t at first).
Right now I’m sitting in the very last chair of the violas! But I know that’s just because I’m new, so it doesn’t bother me (except for the annoyance of being farther away from the conductor). I’m interested to see where he’ll put me for the next concert.
Anyway, I’m sure it will be fun, even more so since Amanda is also playing (she was also stuck in the back of the section — in the second violins). After last night’s rehearsal we were both starving (no time to eat beforehand) so we got dinner at Cinderella’s in Cambridge (hey, since when does Amazon have restaurant listings?). They’ve renovated their restaurant since the last time I was there — what a nice improvement. There’s actual atmosphere now (good riddance to the plastic red checked tablecloths).